


Pretzels Are Not the Only Snack

by poppetawoppet



Category: Leverage
Genre: Alec Hardison is a lovesick fool and I am here for it, Food Metaphors, Multi, not as cracky as I intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21812341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppetawoppet/pseuds/poppetawoppet
Summary: In which there are food metaphors, a slight misunderstanding over dinner, and Alec Hardison figures out a way to let Eliot Spencer know that he and Parker love the dude a whole lot.Dreaming_in_Circles asked for domestic fluff or angst or BOTH and post finale fic. I hope this fits the bill.Title somewhat stolen from ‘Apples are not the only fruit’ By bexless (linked)
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker, Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 10
Kudos: 139
Collections: 2019 Leverage Secret Santa Exchange





	Pretzels Are Not the Only Snack

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dreaming_in_Circles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreaming_in_Circles/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Apples are Not the Only Fruit](https://archiveofourown.org/works/230860) by [Bexless](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bexless/pseuds/Bexless). 



Eliot’s finishing up lunch for Parker, who’s been down with a low grade fever for the last few days. Alec is watching, commenting just enough to annoy Eliot, but not make him really mad. 

“Make sure she eats all the soup okay? I made her a grilled cheese too, so that should make her happy.”

Eliot holds out the plate. “I’ll be up later to make sure an actual adult is in the room when she takes her meds.”

Alec gasps. “I’ll have you know I took care of myself for over twenty years before I met you.”

“Sure, let me call your Nana and double check that.”

“I am going to deliver this and ignore that.”

“Yeah that’s what your best at, running away from fights.”

Eliot says it with a grin on his face, and Alec nods his concession in losing the argument.

Parker takes one bite of her grilled cheese sandwich, and focuses on the soup. She has one of her ‘I’m planning something’ looks on her face, so Alec leaves her be. She finishes the soup and takes another bite.

“Alec,” she says.

“Yeah, babe?”

“This grilled cheese. It tastes. It tastes like love.”

She smiles and eats the rest thoughtfully. Alec is pretty used to her giving feelings to Eliot’s cooking, especially since the three of them have been working on their own. When Eliot comes to check on her and make sure she takes the last of the medicine she has, there’s something different.

Alec remembers a stilted conversation over pretzels, and how hard Parker had to work to say what she felt. Now she’s looking at Eliot in an odd way, and not really talking to him, and…

He shakes his head. He can’t think about this now. 

A few days later, he and Parker are sitting on the couch, watching one of the Star Trek movies for the tenth or twelfth time, when he takes her hand.

“Hey, what’s up Hardison?”

Alec let’s out a breath, and steels himself. They’ve never really had this talk, and it was probably pretty important to have when they first started actually dating, but Nate had been so relentless with jobs and then they were adjusting to the new team dynamic, and then, and then….

“So, uh, you know, I mean.”

He looks at her, so terribly in love. “You know pretzels, they aren’t the only snack, right?”

Parker blinks. “Pretzels.”

“Yeah, I mean, some people are super into popcorn, or sour gummy worms, or you know, I don’t know, grilled cheese. And that’s okay, because it’s important to like what you are, uh, eating, and if maybe you were thinking that pretzels were maybe stale, or too salty, I would totally be okay with it, I mean, if you—“

Parker kisses him. “Alec, I love pretzels. Why would you think I would—oooooooooh”

“I mean, who wouldn’t want to have some of that grilled cheese, right? He likes it too, you know, despite how fancy and gourmet he may seem. Plus—“

“Alec.”

“What?”

(He’s looking at his hands now, he hasn’t been this nervous since they were dealing with the Spanish flu, and he loves them both so much, he just wants them to be happy. He loves the two mst fiddly locks in the world, and he will do anything to stay with them.)

Parker lifts his head with her hand. “Alec, I want pretzels. I like pretzels.”

“But—“

“I think it would be great to have grilled cheese and pretzels. I think you think so too. I just—“

“Oh.”

She smiles at him, and he grins back. 

“I’m just not sure how to, you know, say anything. He’s very troublesome, our Eliot.”  
“All right. We’ll think of something.”

(The thing is, if _Parker_ doesn’t know how to approach Eliot, they are in a lot of trouble. Eliot is a lot of things: he pretends to be uncomplicated, but the man is a tangled knot of stubborn asshole and scared to death of actual feelings and saying them out loud. Food. He and Parker speak through food, and Thursdays is usually take out day, and maybe. Maybe Hardison has a plan.)

Parker looks at the table suspiciously, but sits in her chair.

“Alec, are you—“

“Communication through food, Parker. It’s his thing, but with our twist.”

She purses her lips.

“Hey, I brought beer, like you asked,” Eliot comes in the room, and stops. “What—“

“Trying something new for an appetizer bar type thing, what do you think?”

Eliot sets the beer on the table, and he has one of those looks, where he’s like, about to stroke out, and maybe Alec didn’t think this quite through.

“Why—how—cereal—and—but—dammit Hardison, it’s take out night, not try to kill me with whatever—“ Eliot gestures at the bowls of snacks on the table “this is! You said we were having an all appetizer meal, not—gummy worms and and and this!”

Parker stands up. “We shouldn’t—what Alec—I mean—“ she swallows, and Alec nods in encouragement at her. “Pretzels aren’t the only snack,” she says, fleeing the room.

Eliot shakes his head, blinking, and turns to Hardison.

“What? I know that pretzels aren’t the only snack? What in the hell is that supposed to mean? I mean cereal and pretzels and gummy frogs and popcorn and beer are all okay on their own, but why would you—“

“Eliot.”

Hardison can feel his hands shaking, but he grabs Eliot’s face just like Eliot had done with him in D. C. Eliot doesn’t say anything, but his eyes are wary.

“What is Parker’s most favorite thing to eat?”

“Cereal.”

“And mine?”

“Gummy frogs— are we—“

“Wait. What do we always have when we watch football?”

“Popcorn. I have beer and you have that disgusting orange shit you love so much.”

“Right,” Hardison says. “And I was thinking maybe we could have like, grilled cheese as an actual dinner, or whatever the three of us can agree on.”

Eliot blinks. “Grilled cheese? But—“

Hardison sighs, leans forward, and presses his lips to Eliot’s. Eliot doesn’t move, blinking rapidly when Alec pulls away.

“There are pretzels on the table too, you know.”

“Pretzels—oh, and cereal, and gummy, but—“ Eliot shakes his head. “I—we—I don’t—“

Hardison holds up his hands. “Hey, we aren’t saying that we want to make Chex mix with this all just yet, but, well, uh, it’s important to let everyone know that the Chex mix is available, you know, if we want to have that party.”

Eliot blinks, “Your food metaphors are getting worse, Hardison.”

He shrugs. “It’s what I got to work with, man.”

“Wait. You planned this. Parker, she—“

“You made her grilled cheese with love.”

“I—“

Eliot holds up his hand, and walks out the room. Alec looks up at the ceiling and wonders if they will ever actually talk for once. 

Parker is in her favorite chair, arms crossed, staring at the blank T.V.. 

“Hey, Parker,” Eliot says, and kneels in front of her. “Did you know that your boyfriend just kissed me?”

Parker raises her eyebrows and looks at Hardison.

“I did. It took a while for him to get the drift, but I think he understands that if he wants some Chex mix, we’re cool with it.”

Parker laughs. “Chex mix? This is stupid. Eliot?”

“Yeah, Parker?”

“Can I kiss you too?”

Eliot swallows, and nods. Parker takes Eliot’s face in her hands, and kisses him. It’s light, and quick, and sort of perfect.

They both look at Hardison, who grins at both of them.

The doorbell rings.

“Oh, yeah, I, uh, ordered pizza, cause I wasn’t sure how, uh, this was going to go, and well, I can’t make grilled cheese worth anything, and—“

Hardison goes to the door and pays for the pizza, setting it on the coffee table when he's done.

“Well I got just cheese, and everything, and one of the apple and cheese ones that Eliot likes, and I was thinking we could just have pizza and beer, and maybe you know, actually talk or something. Or watch a movie, or not, or whatever you two want to do, I really don’t think—“

“Hardison!” both Eliot and Parker yell.

Alec smiles, because he does really love them, like a whole lot, and he just—

Parker and Eliot share a look, one of those weird in their head and eyes only ones they have, like all the time, and Parker nods. They both go in the kitchen and come back with plates, napkins, and the beer. They sit on either side of Hardison.

“So, I was thinking,” Parker says. 

Hardison turns to her “Yeah?”

“That maybe we should try some Chex mix sometime. What do you think Eliot?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

Hardison stills, because Eliot was very, very close to his ear. 

Parker leans in, “But I also think honesty is the best policy.”

She whispers to both of them, a sly grin on her face, then kisses Hardison on the cheek.

(He doesn’t say anything, just nods and eats his pizza. Eliot has almost the exact same grin on his face as he sips his beer, and Alec really really wants to kiss them both right now, and when he realizes that he can, then everything is okay.)


End file.
